by Katharyne Mitchell
The transit system is focused on mobility, on safely and efficiently moving commuters from Point A to Point B. Composed of buses, stations and commuters, the system is also a network of routes. While often overlooked as simply a means to a desired destination, these routes are also symbolic of the places in which we live and the paths in which we travel. The geographic lines drawn on a map surface, the bus paths along a streetscape can be a lens through which to explore the meaning of place.
As part of 4Culture’s Public Art Education & Outreach Program, the route maps for the first three lines of RapidRide service – King County Metro’s new bus rapid transit service set to launch in the Fall in 2010 with service unrolling through 2013 – are being studied by a group of honors geography students at the University of Washington. An opportunity for students to apply their academic work to the public realm, the students are working with 4Culture to create resources for future 4Culture projects. It is also an opportunity to share another way of examining the meaning of public space – a resource for artists and constituents County-wide to benefit from.
In this guest blog post, the first in a series documenting the project, Geography Professor Katharyne Mitchell describes her interest in this collaboration and the general approach of her students.
In geography we look at the ways that society and space intersect and help to form each other. Many people see time as dynamic and space as static, but in fact space is always in motion, and how it is produced and shaped alters what happens there.
In our collaboration with 4Culture we are putting together some examples of spatial production along three proposed bus routes. The students are researching several nodal points that may be of interest to artists and others who seek a better understanding of how places are formed through time. We want to create a rich archive of materials and also provide some analysis of the many ways that society and space constitute each other. From physical processes such as waterways, to early roads and irrigation systems, to the formation of ethnic neighborhoods, we are working to gather and interrogate the many signs and symbols of human interaction with the landscape.
My interest in having students collaborate with a non-profit arts organization derives from a long-term concern with making relevant and sustainable links between the university and the broader public sphere. Over the past several years I have promoted the notion of public scholarship in geography, and recently published an edited volume, Practicing Public Scholarship: Experiences and Possibilities Beyond the Academy. The partnership with 4Culture is one example of a wider call to breach the so-called town-gown divide and forge relationships that ultimately benefit both the students and the communities in which they live and work.
These kinds of links are not always easy to create or sustain, but to my mind they are critical in producing the kinds of scholarship and citizens that we want and need now and in the future. Abstract or basic science remains vital, but supplementing that form of knowledge production with “real world” experiences introduces new ways of thinking about knowledge, or new ‘epistemologies,’ as well as new real life connections and contacts.
In our 4Culture work we continue our theoretical investigation of the cultural geography of Seattle. (In the autumn quarter of the year, we co-wrote a chapter entitled “Cultural Geographies,” which is scheduled for publication in 2011 in Seattle: Here and Back Again, with the University of Washington Press). At the same time, we are enriching our ways of knowing the city and the surrounding areas through our empirical research and our meetings with those who will eventually use the research findings. This kind of triple movement–reading theory, conducting empirical research, and working with community actors who both shape and use the data–is the essence of good public scholarship.
We are delighted to work with 4Culture, and are looking forward to our spring presentations. We hope to see you there!
Currently in process, the students are creating a rich, online repository of resources that will serve many – from artists commissioned to create artwork related to RapidRide to creatives working more broadly along the transit corridors, and to individuals and organizations with a variety of interests relational to the route locations. The students will be presenting their work at a public event at the University on June 1, 2010.
